“Yah! Wang Jackson! Give that back!”

Sunny only had a few seconds as soon as she came down the stairs to sidestep the two youngsters in the family as they ran passed her. Young Ji casually shouted a “Sorry Unnie!” to her while chasing down Jackson as he waved a book around in the air.

Sunny clutched her heart and thanked god for somehow allowing her to dodge two hyped up kids in her half-awake state. The timid Young Ji that could barely meet her eye when asking her to eat dinner a few days ago was long gone. Sunny chalked it up to how approachable she was, because it didn’t take long for Young Ji to become comfortable with her despite there being a significant gap in industry seniority.

“Hey you kids! I told you not to run around the house! You’re going to end up breaking something!” Dong Wook nagged from the dining table.

“Yeah, you two nearly broke Sunny.” Nana chimed in, while smiling at the SNSD member from the dining room.

It had only been a few days since Sunny had moved into the Roommate House, but somehow within the span of just a few short days she had managed to create a bond with the other members of the show. Sunny had initial doubts as to how easily it would be to gel with her roommates, but the moment she stepped into the house she had been welcomed with a atmosphere that made her feel right at home. Despite it being a house full of celebrities, the people she now shared a home with could not have been more down to earth.

Sunny took a seat beside Nana and a plate of toast was immediately placed in front of her by Kang Joon. She noticed everyone at the table had already finished their breakfast and felt a little guilty for sleeping in.

“Sunny, you’re not wearing any make-up, just in case you didn’t realize.” Nana whispered to her, trying to watch out for the SNSD member’s image.

“I can’t be bothered. Too early.” Sunny replied, too pre-occupied with her toast.

All of Sunny’s roommates were present at the table except for Jong Ok, Min Woo and the two kids who had run off to god knows where.

“So who doesn’t have plans for today?” Sunny asked aloud, gaining the attention of everyone at the table.

Gook Ju’s tore herself away from her conversation with Joon Hyung and shot her hand up into the air while Ryohei pointed to himself, indicating that they were free. Sunny finished off the rest of her toast before continuing.

“Are you guys by any chance interested in following me to T-ara’s comeback showcase? It’s in the evening.” Sunny’s invitation was met with two opposite reactions. An enthusiastic “Omo!” followed by a yes from Gook Ju and a confused, questioning expression from Ryohei.

“I don’t think Ryohei knows who T-ara are.” Dong Wook said while trying to stifle his laughter.

“Honestly I don’t think Ryohei even knows which group Nana is in.” Seho teased.

“It’s so confusing! After Caramel or Orange School or something like that! I’m trying my best to learn the idol groups but it’s not fair if you’re part of 2 groups!” Ryohei complained, earning laughter from around the table and an expression from Nana who was caught between feeling apologetic and amused.

“Actually it’s 3 groups if you count Afterschool Red….but I get your point. You should go with Sunny, oppa! Get to know more idols!” Nana suggested, trying to cheer Ryohei up, who nodded in agreement.

“Yeah oppa! It’s not every day you get a chance to go to a group’s showcase!” Gook Ju excitedly exclaimed. Sunny could tell that Gook Ju had always wanted to go for one. She assumed that comedians don’t get invited to idol showcases very often.

“Are they even allowed to go Sunny? During my day the security wasn’t as tight, but I’m pretty sure nowadays you need some form of ticket or invitation.” Joon Hyung asked, putting a damper on Gook Ju’s excitement.

“Sunny is close to Hyomin though right? I’m sure she can sneak them in.” Nana said, while winking and nudging Sunny’s sides.

“Actually it was Hyomin who invited you guys to come as well, so it won’t be a problem.” Sunny assured them, and Kang Joon groaned, wanting to go as well but he couldn’t because of his schedule.

After cleaning up after themselves, the rest of the group went off to prepare for their respective schedules. Sunny went upstairs to freshen up in her room, sighing and shaking her head as she walked past Young Ji who was fast asleep on the upstairs living room couch. Running around must have tired her out. She was about to enter her room when she heard Dong Wook calling out for her.

Sunny turned around to see Dong Wook standing in front of his room door, pressing a finger to his lips signaling for Sunny to be quiet.

“Min Woo just got back from his schedule a few hours ago and he’s asleep in the room right now.” Dong Wook explained the need for all the silence.

“Is it alright if you invited him to the showcase with you if his schedule is free? He won’t say it, but I know he wants to spend more time with the new family members but he’s been too busy and tired. Do him a favour and help him unwind a bit yea?” Dong Wook suggested and from that Sunny can tell how kind and understanding the man in front of her was. It’s no wonder that everyone in the house looks up to him.

Sunny just nodded in understanding and gave him a thumbs up. Dong Wook thanked her and patted her shoulder before turning to go downstairs, stopping to fix Young Ji’s blanket that had slipped off her.

***************

“Waaah look at that stage!” Gook Ju exclaimed while tugging at Ryohei’s clothes, who was similarly impressed by the set up in front of him.

They had arrived to the venue slightly later than intended, but the intimate setting that the showcase was aiming for meant that there wasn’t much of a crowd at the location so Sunny and her entourage could slip into the audience unnoticed.

Sunny came with Gook Ju, Ryohei, Young Ji and Min Woo, who immediately agreed to go with Sunny although he looked like a walking zombie. Sunny couldn’t help but wonder how he was even awake, let alone functioning at the moment.

Her thoughts were taken away from her at that moment when the lights in the auditorium went dark and the stage lights came on to focus on the opening curtains. The small auditorium caused the voices of the tiny crowd to bounce off the walls, making it seem like there were more people than there actually was. Sunny was hyped, and as soon as the 6 members of T-ara appeared on stage Sunny’s cheers might have been the loudest in the venue.

The moment Sugar Free’s electronic intro started playing and the strobe lights started flashing, Sunny knew she was going to love this song. The choreography started off with Eunjung shaking her body to the beat so hard she looked like she was about to break something. It got even more impressive when Jiyeon and Hyomin stood up to join her.

By the end of the song, Sunny was sweating and feeling lightheaded from having jumped too much. Sunny took a glance at her roommates and couldn’t help but have a proud smile on her face as she saw Gook Ju and Ryohei looking just as worn out as she was.  All traces of fatigue was gone from Min Woo’s features as he looked like he just had the time of his life, and Young Ji looked starstruck as she watched her sunbaes put on a heck of a show.

Sunny brought her attention back to the stage as T-ara got ready to perform more songs from their new album and prepared herself to be blown away by another good performance.

*****************

“I like T-ara now!” Ryohei exclaimed as soon as they arrived backstage, finally finding a bias group.

The five of them had decided to go to T-ara’s dressing room to congratulate the girls on an amazing show. Min Woo even surprised all of them by bringing along a congratulatory bouquet that he had snuck out to buy earlier. Sunny felt a tinge of embarrassment because she had forgotten to buy one herself. Noticing this Min Woo gave Sunny the bouquet to pass to the T-ara members on his behalf, saying that he wasn’t familiar enough with them as an excuse. Sunny took note to pay him back for the gesture in the future.

Sunny knocked on the door of the dressing room, and smiled at Soyeon when she opened it.

“Hey Sunny!” Soyeon greeted her before turning around.

“Hyomin! The pipsqueak is here to see you!”

“Unnie I told you to stop calling her that! Besides, Boram unnie is shorter than Sunny!” Hyomin said as she made a light jab in Soyeon’s direction before making her way to the door.

“Yah! Don’t bring me into this!” Boram said as she stuffed her face with chips, and Sunny suspected from experience that it was probably her first meal of the day.

“I love the new song Minnie!! It’s sooo good!” Sunny said as she handed a blushing Hyomin the bouquet of flowers. Hyomin smiled and pulled Sunny in for a tight hug, before the sound of someone clearing their throat made Sunny remember that she didn’t come alone.

Sunny introduced her roommates to the T-ara members, who politely bowed and introduced themselves in return.

“Ah! I’ve met Hyomin sunbae-nim before!” Young Ji started, but hesitated when Hyomin shook her head slightly from behind Sunny which somehow went unnoticed by everyone else.

“Really? Where?” Sunny asked, curious.

“Oh I must have been mistaken. It was someone else I was thinking about.” Young Ji covered up, which made Hyomin smile. She didn’t want Sunny to know what she did for her because she didn’t want the girl to feel indebted to her.

“So these are your roommates Sunny? See Hyomin! Told you it would be really fun! Can’t believe you turned dow—“ Jiyeon came up and made to rest her elbow on Hyomin’s shoulder but was cut off mid-sentence by Soyeon who forcibly dragged her away from a confused Sunny.

“C’mon Jiyeon! Our leader has a few choice words to say to you for the mistakes you did on stage earlier.” Soyeon said as she dragged Jiyeon away before exchanging a knowing look with Hyomin.

Hyomin inwardly thanked Soyeon who saved the situation, although she doubted that Qri who was currently napping on the sofa had much to say to Jiyeon at the moment.

Trying to remedy the awkward atmosphere, Hyomin invited Sunny and her entourage to take a seat as she brought them drinks from the table of refreshments they had.

“Did all of you enjoy the show?”  Hyomin asked, and was met with a chorus of people telling her exactly how much they enjoyed it, making her smile in gratitude.

Eventually the conversation topic changed from the showcase to other matters ranging from the roommate members’ work to what they wanted to eat for dinner. Jiyeon and Boram eventually came to take Gook Ju away because they were a fan of her skits, and Soyeon grabbed Young Ji by the arm to ask her to join the group. Soyeon looked like she had taken a liking to the adorable Roommate maknae.

Ryohei moved to talk to a now awake Qri and Sunny suspected that he wanted to congratulate the T-ara leader on a good performance. He was very gentlemanly in that way, and Sunny had never seen him this excited before. That left Sunny with Hyomin, and a half asleep Min Woo who was trying his hardest to stay awake and be apart of the conversation but it was obvious he was fighting a losing battle.

“You should really take care of yourself Min Woo. Don’t overwork yourself.” Hyomin said, slightly amused at Min Woo whose consciousness was slipping in between the dressing room and dreamland.

“I’m so sorry for being like this, especially after you guys invited us over to watch your show.” Min Woo said guiltily rubbing the back of his neck, looking embarrassed.

“But the same can be said for T-ara too right? Aren’t you guys famous for overworking yourselves?” Min Woo continued.

“Sometimes. But those articles usually only come up because of Eunjung and her work ethics. We try to keep it easy once in awhile but that girl is just…” Hyomin ended her statement with a sigh, indicating to the girl who was dozing off in the corner of the room.

Sunny was very familiar with Eunjung and her ability to ignore all bodily needs and focus on nothing but her work. She was as close to the T-ara members as Hyomin was to Girls’ Generation because they spend so much time in each other’s dorm.

A sudden idea came to Sunny and she had a mischievous grin or her face which Hyomin took as a cause for alarm. Sunny whispered her plan to Hyomin, whose eyes widened with surprise until she too had a similar grin plastered on her face.

Min Woo was concerned, to say the least.

Hyomin got up and made her way to the sleeping Eunjung, shaking her awake. Min Woo watched as Hyomin exchanged words with the drowsy girl and pointed to him, making him slightly wary. Hyomin walked back towards Sunny and Min Woo, almost literally dragging a half awake Eunjung behind her by her wrist.

“Min Woo, there’s somebody I’d like you to meet.” Hyomin said, sitting Eunjung down onto the chair opposite the now blushing actor. Min Woo took a quick questioning glance at Sunny before introducing himself to Eunjung, who suddenly realised the situation and hurriedly fixed her appearance as she shook Min Woo’s hand.

Hyomin and Sunny scooted over to the side a bit to watch the awkward interaction between the their two friends unfold, and they smiled as the awkward air surrounding Min Woo and Eunjung slowly lifted and was replaced with laughs and giggles.

“Well, that was a good idea Sunny.” Hyomin acknowledged as she watched the pair from afar. The two didn’t even notice that Sunny and Hyomin had moved to the other end of the dressing room.

“They’re too polite to fall asleep in front of each other. This’ll help them out a bit, I hope.” Sunny said, looking around the dressing room to see all her roommates getting along very well with the T-ara members.

“I’m happy that all the good people in my life get to meet each other.” Sunny smiled, taking Hyomin’s hand in hers while absentmindedly drawing circles on the back of the T-ara visual’s hand with her thumb.

“I hope I get to meet the rest of them though.”

“Come on over to the house some time. You’re always invited. Ryohei can make you some of his fried udon.”

“I’d like that.” Hyomin replied with a soft smile.

Hyomin and Sunny just sat in their own world until the T-ara manager came in and told the girl’s it was time to leave, putting a stopper onto their dinner plans. Hyomin hugged Sunny and thanked the roommate members for coming. Gook Ju pulled out her phone and took a group selfie before bowing in gratitude to the T-ara members.

Sunny noticed Min Woo and Eunjung exchanging phone numbers out of the corner of her eye, which caused her to smile in contentment. She was thankful for the night, and was looking forward to more group meet-ups like this in the future.

Sunny looked forward to the day she could bring the other 8 members of her group to Seongbukdong to meet her roommate family.

______________________________________________________________

I wrote this whole chapter when I was stuck on a flight from Singapore to Melbourne. I wanted to actually make it a point that Sunny has at least some form of interaction with her Roommate co-stars, so the next few chapters would just be that. I didn't include Seho in the fic that much however. I don't really know how to write his character because all he does on shows is ask people difficult questions and try to get them as emotional as possible. Maybe there's a few lines for him in the later chapters.

Also, I really like Min Woo! I mean, he's really adorable in KWill's Day 1 MV like watch that and tell me you don't smile looking at him! Kinda sad that he doesn't get as much screentime anymore on the show, so I decided to give him a little sumthin' sumthin' in my fic instead. Eunjung is a fiiiine lady. He should thank me. hahaha

Thanks to all my latest subscribers and for the comments! 

P/s: You know how I always write about Hyomin's smile and how amazingly bright it is? Well, to prove that I wanna share Hyomin's recent instagram update.

Look at that. Bright as the sun.